Jacob Zuma ordered the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) to undo a parliamentary reshuffle but his chief whip has told Parliament to keep it.
The move came five days after Zuma fired secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo, partly over changes to the party’s parliamentary whippery. It also came just 24 hours after parliamentary leader John Hlophe assured MK Party MPs that Zuma’s instructions had taken effect.
Mkhize withdraws request
Instead of accepting the reinstatement, chief whip Philasande Mkhize wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on Tuesday, withdrawing the request to restore four MPs to their previous posts and demanded that Parliament recognise the original changes.
The four MPs are Visvin Reddy, Siyabonga Gama, Saira Abader and David Skosana.
The letter contradicts Zuma’s October 22 directive, which ordered Hlophe to restore the previous whippery.
“The communication requesting the reinstatement … is hereby withdrawn and should no longer be acted upon,” Mkhize wrote. He said the October 12 restructuring “remains in force and must be implemented accordingly”.
Mkhize did not mention Zuma’s directive. Nor did the letter explain why Parliament should reject the reinstatement Hlophe had announced.
The chief whip asked Didiza to update Parliament’s records and confirm in writing that the October 12 changes would stand.
Zuma’s instruction
On October 22, Zuma instructed Hlophe to return the whippery to its earlier composition.
His letter also left little doubt about who should oversee the process.
“I expect your leadership authority to be respected in the coordination of our parliamentary affairs,” Zuma told Hlophe.
Zuma’s intervention followed his decision to remove Nomvalo as secretary-general and from the parliamentary caucus.
Among his complaints, Zuma cited whippery changes that officials had not communicated to the party leadership.
Four days later, Hlophe told MPs that he had carried out the president’s instruction.
“The former Whippery has been fully reinstated to its composition and arrangements exactly as they stood prior to the adjustments made last week,” Hlophe wrote on Monday.
He thanked MPs who had briefly served under the revised structure and urged the caucus to respect the restored leadership. Hlophe also told MPs to abandon internal distractions and prepare for Wednesday’s municipal elections.
Restructuring
By Tuesday, however, Mkhize had taken the opposite instruction to Parliament’s presiding officer after Hlophe spoke to the party’s MPs. Mkhize asked the Speaker to make the October 12 changes count.
The original shake-up removed Reddy, Gama, Abader and Skosana from whip positions. The party appointed Emerald Madlala, Sanele Mwali, Pinky Mngadi, Sihle Ngubane and Wesley Douglas as whips.
The broader restructuring also removed Adil Nchabeleng as constituency whip and dissolved the extended whippery.
It placed party deployments, parliamentary assignments and constituency responsibilities under the Office of the Chief Whip.
The shift gave Mkhize’s office wider control over how the MK Party organised its work in Parliament. Mkhize communicated the October restructuring. The latest letter seeks to preserve the arrangement that followed it.
The dispute is therefore about more than which four MPs carry the title of whip.
It also concerns who assigns parliamentary duties and how much authority Zuma’s parliamentary leader exercises over the arrangements.
Nomvalo’s dismissal did not settle the questions. Mkhize’s latest instruction has brought them back into focus.For now, the party has two different instructions on record, issued a day apart. One tells MPs Zuma’s decision has taken effect. The other tells Parliament to restore the changes he ordered undone.
The MK Party did not respond to requests for comment at the time of going to publication.
- Jacob Zuma ordered the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) to undo a parliamentary reshuffle but his chief whip has told Parliament to keep it.
- The move came five days after Zuma fired secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo, partly over changes to the party’s parliamentary whippery.
- It also came just 24 hours after parliamentary leader John Hlophe assured MK Party MPs that Zuma’s instructions had taken effect.
- Mkhize withdraws request Instead of accepting the reinstatement, chief whip Philasande Mkhize wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on Tuesday, withdrawing the request to restore four MPs to their previous posts and demanded that Parliament recognise the original changes.
- The four MPs are Visvin Reddy, Siyabonga Gama, Saira Abader and David Skosana.
